A coalition of Black education advocates declared "no confidence" in Montgomery County Public Schools leadership, demanding urgent action on achievement gaps for Black students days before the Nov. 3 school board elections.
The Montgomery County Education Equity Action Group sent the formal statement on Friday, Oct. 23, to Superintendent Thomas Taylor, Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven, Councilmember Will Jawando, Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) President David Stein and Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals (MCAAP) President James Allrich, as MyMCMedia first reported.
The group's letter, dated Oct. 23, expressed no confidence in the superintendent and Board of Education "to effectively educate, protect and support the academic achievement, well-being and post-graduation preparedness of Black public students." It also targeted the County Council's Education and Culture Committee, chaired by Jawando, and both unions.
The group set an Oct. 30 deadline for a written response. No public responses from any of the named parties have appeared as of publication.
Who signed and what they want
Twelve people signed the statement, including former Board of Education member Chris Barclay, Pastor Segun Adebayo of Macedonia Baptist Church, Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman, Wylea Chase and Ricky Ribeiro. Several hold leadership roles in the Black Coalition for Excellence in Education.
The letter lays out seven demands. Among them: designate Black students as an MCPS "Special Population," create line-item budget funding proportional to student need, comply with the district's existing Anti-racist Action Plan and accelerate academic outcomes using demographic data that separates race from ethnicity.
The group urged recipients to "forego any further study or data gathering about and from Black students and families," calling it unnecessary, and to instead review existing unfulfilled commitments.
Achievement data cited in the statement
The statement included proficiency tables sourced from Maryland State Department of Education report cards. In 2025 English Language Arts testing across all grades, 48.3% of Black students scored proficient compared with 80.1% of white students. In math, 22.9% of Black students were proficient versus 58.5% of white students. College readiness rates showed a similar split: 15.8% for Black high school completers versus 46.6% for white completers.
The letter also cited student arrest data from the Montgomery County Police Department. In the 2025-2026 school year through March 21, Black students accounted for 13 of 16 physical student arrests, or 81.2%.
Broader context
The statement arrives amid sustained scrutiny of MCPS. A July Office of Legislative Oversight report found the district's budgeting and staffing practices disproportionately harm Black and Latino students, as Bethesda Magazine reported. MCPS rejected many of the report's conclusions, calling it "unacceptable and irresponsible to accuse a public agency of racist resource allocation without substantial evidence," according to the district's written response.
State test results released in late July showed 50.1% of Black students scored proficient in English Language Arts on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP), compared with 81.9% of white students, according to Bethesda Magazine.
School board candidates have made equity and budgets central campaign issues ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. Contested races include the at-large seat, where Omar Lazo faces Brenda Diaz, and the District 3 seat, where Sally McCarthy faces Cassandra Sung.
The group's Oct. 30 response deadline falls four days before voters go to the polls.
